August 14, 2004

Thanks to everyone who came out last Saturday for a day of gaming. As always, I enjoyed myself as I hope everyone did. Of course, the impetus for getting together was Paul Czarnota who was in town for the day.

Thanks to Carol for cooking dinner for everyone.

Looking back, I realized we played four of the great Alea game series, Traders of Genoa, Ra, Taj Mahal, and Puerto Rico. That’s pretty impressive!

Our next game is going to be on Sunday, Aug. 29th, where we’ll be playing a huge Wooden Ships and Iron Men scenario. We may have up to ten players. If you haven’t signed up but are interested, let me know.

The results are below (winner listed in bold).
Titan: the Arena
Bob, Carol, Paul
Bob: T:TA has made quite a comeback over the past few months; we’ve been pulling it off the shelf more and more often. For those who don’t own this game, it’s being rereleased by Fantasy Flight Games as Colossal Arena and will be available this fall.
Titan: the Arena
Carol, Bob, Paul
Modern Art
Jason, Bill, Steph R, Paul, Carol

Ra
Dave 38, Bob 34, Eric 24, Katherina 17

Ticket to Ride
Rachel J 110, Carol 80, Eric 29, Noreen 68, Royal 55

Venture
Dave 193, Paul 180, Bob 152, Stephanie W 146
Bob: This is a classic Sid Sackson (creator of Acquire) game from the late ’60’s. Paul brought it so we could playtest it. We all enjoyed it, although I thought it went a bit long. Still, the mechanisms were way ahead of their time and the game has a great deal of depth for a simple card game. Very nice.
Titan: The Arena
Paul, Stephanie W, Dave

Robo-Rally
Rachel J, Andrew, Noreen, Royal, Carol, Eric

Traders of Genoa
Paul 1020, Bob 965, Stephanie W 840, Alex 705, Dave 580.
Bob: This was an epic game. Many, many deals were made and the negotiations were quite protracted and involved at times. However, I owe both Dave Fair and Alex Ruvinsky an apology. Normally, I’m pretty aware of how each player is doing. As the game went on, Dave Fair was doing an impressive job of fulfilling large order after large order. Since large orders give one of the biggest payoffs in the game, I assumed that Dave was rolling over the rest of us and harped on his lead at every opportunity. When Alex Ruvinsky gave Dave a sweetheart deal, I teased Alex about it more than I should have. As it turns out, Dave wasn’t doing nearly as well as I thought; rarely have I so misjudged a game. In the end, Paul got the well-deserved victory. My apologies to Dave for going on and on about his lead and to Alex for teasing him about a simple mistake.
Sequence
Rachel J, Carol, Eric

Puerto Rico
Carol 57, Rachel J 50, Bob 49, Paul 47, Eric 45
Bob: A great game with lots of different strategies employed. Carol’s effective use of the Wharf and the Harbor gave her a big victory. And congratulations to Rachel Jones who nearly extended her winning streak to four games.
Taj Mahal
Paul 75, Bob 46, Carol 45
Bob: This was no contest. Paul captured 6 or 7 of the Province tiles and crushed Carol and me. Taj Mahal with three players is definitely different than with more players.


Eric’s Notes
2:23 pm:
Eric arrived at Bob’s around 2:30. Bob, Carol and, Paul were playing Titan: the Arena. The Fairs arrived shortly after Eric.
2:34 pm:
The Ruvinskys arrived. Carol won Titan: the Arena.
2:42 pm:
Paul, Carol, Jason, Bill, and Steffie started Modern Art. Dave, Katherina, Bob, and Eric started Ra.
3:09 pm:
The Whites arrived.
3:54 pm:
Jason won Modern Art. Dave won Ra with 38, Bob had 34, Eric had 24, Katherina had 17.
4:03 pm:
The Ruvinskys had to leave.
4:11 pm:
Bob, Dave, Paul, and Stephanie played Venture while Noreen, Carol, Royal, Rachel J, and Eric played Ticket to Ride.
5:11 pm:
At the end of Ticket to Ride, Rachel had 110, Noreen had 68, Carol had 80, Royal had 55, and Eric had 79.
6:22 pm:
Dave won Venture with 193, Paul had 180, Bob had 152, and Stephanie had 146.
7:17 pm:
We took a break for dinner, and then Bob showed us the pictures he and Carol took on their recent vacation.
7:41 pm:
Bob and Rachel left to pick up Alex. Stephanie, Dave, and Paul played Titan: the Arena while they were waiting.
8:09 pm:
Paul won Titan: the Arena.
8:40 pm:
Paul, Dave, Bob, Stephanie, and Alex played Traders of Genoa while, Andrew, Noreen, Royal, Rachel, Carol, and Eric played Robo-Rally.
11:11 pm:
Rachel won Robo-Rally.
11:51 pm:
Rachel, Carol, and Eric started a game of Sequence.
12:07 am:
Rachel won Sequence.
12:39 am:
Paul won Traders of Genoa with 1020, Bob had 965, Stephanie had 840, Alex had 705, and Dave 580.
1:07 am:
Carol, Paul, Rachel, Bob, and Eric started a game of Puerto Rico.
3:18 am:
Carol won with 57, Rachel had 50, Bob had 49, Paul had 47, and Eric had 45. Eric left after Puerto Rico. Paul, Carol and Bob played Taj Mahal.
?:?? am:
Paul won Taj Mahal with 75, Bob had 46, and Carol had 45.